Appalachia, a vast and beautiful panoply of verdant mountains. At least, most of the thin line of peaks that make up the Appalachian Mountains were like that. Currently, the continued spread of a method of coal extraction known as mountaintop removal mining has plagued areas of the eastern United States, primarily including the state of West Virginia. Over the course of its escalating stages of implementation, mountaintop removal mining has caused numerous adverse effects, including severe harm to nearby residents and pollution of a once-pure environment. For this reason, mountaintop removal mining must be limited in order to preserve the natural state of the Appalachian Mountains. Mountaintop removal mining has been around for several decades and began to become prevalent in Appalachia in 1985. 1,2 The general overview of mountaintop removal mining is as follows: miners select a mountain from which to extract the coal "seams" and clear its surface of the main obstacles, mainly trees. 3 Subsequently, using explosives or machinery, the surface rock and soil of the mountain are removed. When coal begins to become visible throughout the mountain, the miners collect it. Throughout the process, many tons of rock and dust are moved into nearby areas, often called “valley fills.” As the title suggests, valley fills are what was once a quiet, vegetated valley that has now been filled with rubble. The charcoal itself goes through a cleaning process to remove certain materials that make the combustion cycle cleaner. After all the coal has been extracted, the mountain is subjected to a reclamation process which aims to stabilize and restore vegetation to the now paralyzed peak. 3 Unfortunately, coal companies tend to s...... middle of paper...... Gunnoe. Firefly Pix, 2008. DVD."Learn more about mountaintop removal coal mining." ILoveMountains.org. Network. "Mountaintop mining leaves huge scars in Appalachia." USA Today October 27, 2009: A.10. SIRS researcher. Network. February 13, 2010.Reece, Erik. "The Death of a Mountain." Harper's April 2005: 41-60. SIRS researcher. Network. 15 February 2010.---. "Mountains in motion." Orion Magazine, January 2006. Web. February 15, 2010. Shnayerson, Michael. Coal River. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2008. Print.Slavin, Peter. “The coal mine next door.” Journal of the American School Board. March 2006: 16-21. SIRS researcher. Network. February 13, 2010. “What is mountaintop removal mining?” Mountain justice. February 13, 2010. Wingfield, Brian. “Seeing Red on Cap And Trade.” Forbes 28 September 2009. Web. 15 February 2010. .